Finding the best games each year is a challenge. With thousands of titles to choose from, and coverage often dominated by high profile and big budget experiences it's easy to miss that one perfect game for you.
This year the families and parents I've been working with have sifted the big list of upcoming titles to collate the game that really matter. I expected this to find a couple dozen top picks, but this grew in the writing to a list of 148 top games for 2016.
As you can see in the video this includes games for all ages and on all platforms, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, portable, tablet, smartphone, PC and Mac.
Sifting this further, with families particularly in mind we narrowed our 148 games down to these ten:
Block’Hood is a neighborhood-building simulator focusing on experimentation. There are over 80 unique blocks to use in your city, each consuming and creating a selection of input and output resources (e.g. Trees = Oxygen & Carbon Dioxide).
Understanding how they work together uncovers the game's secrets. For families, that all helps bring about a greater understanding of the world we live in and the limited nature of the resources at our disposal.
Home Free is a survival game with a twist -- not least as you play a dog, lost in a large sprawling city. With various breeds to pick from, unique neighborhoods to explore and dangers to escape you'll need to make friends, both canine and human to survive.
Survival games are often great educational experiences and the unique angle of Home Free should be no exception. The game also comes bundled with a four player local multiplayer add-on where you chase, wrestle, cavort and gambol with other players in a chaotic struggle to have as much fun as you can
No Man's Sky is a huge space exploration game packed with (reportedly) over 18 quintillion planets for players to explore. Each planet has unique attributes to uncover. Although the game can be played solo, families can embrace the online multiplayer aspect and explorer the universe together.
Every player will also contribute to The Atlas, a universal database of every planet that can be shared with other players of the game.
Stretch, scale, rotate and manipulate aspects of the world. Explore and learn from your interactions and unlock the many secrets that it has to offer. Each discovery will teach key programming concepts and encourage lateral thinking.
Night In The Woods is a little bit scary, but it's also chock full or color and character. Focused on story, exploration and adventure you visit the town of Possum Springs with a Richard Scarry art style and plethora of different characters to interact with, relationships to explore and mysteries to uncover. Like a good book, this should be an immersive experience for all ages that explores themes of change and of moving on.
Metroid Prime Federation Force is a new style of Metroid game; first person co-operative game-play experience on the 3DS. Each player controls a Marine of the Galactic Federation who must battle cooperatively as part of a four person unit through the 60 missions in the game. This presents families with multiple 3DS consoles to head into battle together as they work strategically to complete each mission.
Pokemon Go is an augmented reality game with wearable tech. Pokemon are escaping into the real world. Armed with a mobile phone, a copy of Pokemon Go plus the bundled Pokemon Go Plus wristband, players will track down a wide variety of Pokemon to battle and ultimately add to their collection. Battles aren't just a solo affair though, as friends, family or other worldwide Pokemon Masters can team up in various global events. Once captured, Pokemon can be trained and traded with other players around the world.
Pokken is unlike other fighting games aimed at avid gamers. Instead Pokken promises to be more accessible and something the whole family can enjoy as it exchanges the human fighters for Pikachu and friends. The game is also branching out into eSports, so perhaps your family could spawn the next World Pokken Champion?
Speedrunners is a pure multiplayer game with an emphasis on fun. Play as one of four heroes who must boost, jump and swing across rooftops as they fight to be the last man running. With local and online multiplayer Speedrunners offers a safe cartoon-styled but highly competitive environment for families to game in.
Yooka Laylee is from the creative talent behind Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country the games, Yooka-Laylee is a brand new 3D platform game starring a sensible chameleon and a crazy bat. With local co-operative multiplayer for two players and four player competitive multiplayer, there's a lot of varied content here for families without the additional figure purchases that similar style games are encumbered with.
As you can see in the video, the rest of our top games for 2016 list includes the following:
12 Minutes XB1,PS4,WIN,OSX
Abzû PS4,WIN
Adrift XB1,PS4,WIN
Allison Road XB1,PS4,WIN,OSX,Linux
Ark: Survival Evolved XB1,PS4,WIN,OSX,LINUX
Astroneer WIN
Batman: A Telltale Games Series
Battleborn XB1,PS4,WIN
Below XB1,WIN
Block’Hood WIN
Bombernauts WIN,OSX,Linux
Call of Duty XB1,PS4,WIN
Check In Knock Out WIN
Cogmind WIN
Courier of the Crypts WIN
Crackdown 3 XB1
Cryptark WIN
Cuphead XB1,WIN
Darkest Dungeon WIN
Dark Souls III XB1,PS4,WIN
Dead Island 2 XB1,PS4,WIN
Dead Realm WIN
Detroit: Become Human PS4
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided XB1,PS4,WIN
Dishonored 2 XB1,PS4,WIN
Disney Infinity 4.0 XB1,PS4,WiiU,iOS,AppleTV,WIN
Divinity: Original Sin 2 WIN
Doom XB1,PS4,WIN
Dragon Quest XI: In Search of Departed Time PS4,3DS
Drifter PS4,VITA,WIN
Due Process WIN
Dungeon Souls WIN
Duskers WIN
Endless Space 2 WIN
Enemy Starfighter WIN
Ernesto WIN,OSX,iOS,Android
Fable Legends XB1,WIN
Far Cry Primal XB1,PS4,WIN
FIFA 17 XB1,PS4,WIN
Final Fantasy XV XB1,PS4
Fire Emblem Fates 3DS
Firewatch PS4,WIN,OSX,Linux
Flamberge WIN
For Honour XB1,PS4,WIN
Fortnite WIN
Gang Beasts WIN
Gears of War 4 XB1
Glitchspace WIN
Halo Wars 2 XB1,WIN
Hellblade PS4,WIN
Hitman XB1,PS4,WIN
Home Free PS4
Homefront: The Revolution XB1,PS4,WIN
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak WIN
Horizon Zero Dawn PS4
Hyper Light Drifter XB1,PS4,WIN,OSX
Hyrule Warriors Legends 3DS
Inside XB1,360,PS4,PS3,WIN,OSX
Krautscape WIN,OSX
LawBreakers WIN
Lego Dimensions Expansions XB1,360,PS4,PS3,WiiU
Lego Marvel's Avengers XB1,360,PS4,PS3,WIN
Lego Worlds WIN
Lethal Tactics WIN
Liege PS4,WIIU,WIN
Mafia III XB1,PS4,WINOSX
Mass Effect: Andromeda XB1,PS4,WIN
Matterfall PS4
Metroid Prime: Federation Force 3DS
Miegakure PS4,WIN,OSX,Linux
Mighty No. 9 XB1,PS4,WIIU,3DS,WIN
Mirror's Edge Catalyst XB1,PS4,WIN
Nier: Automata PS4
Night In The Woods PS4,WIN,OSX,Linux
No Man's Sky PS4,WIN
Obduction WIN,OSX
Overland WIN,OSX,Linux
Overwatch XB1,PS4,WIN
Oxenfree XB1,PS4,WIN,OSX
Paradise Never WIN,OSX,Linux
Parkitect WIN,OSX,Linux
Persona 5 PS4,PS3
Planet Coaster WIN
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 XB1,PS4,WIN
Pokémon GO iOS,Android
Pokkén Tournament WiiU
Quantum Break XB1
Ratchet & Clank PS4
ReCore XB1
Return of the Obra Dinn WIN
Rime PS4
Rising Thunder WIN
Routine WIN
Salt & Sanctuary PS4,VITA
Severed
Skylanders 6 XB1,360,PS4,PS3,WiiU
Speedrunners WIN
Spy Party WIN
Squad WIN
Star Crawlers WIN
Star Fox Zero WiiU
Stellaris WIN
Stephen’s Sausage Roll WIN
Strafe WIN
Street Fighter V PC,PS4
Sub Rosa WIN
Super Blood Hockey WIN
Superhot XB1,WIN,OSX,Linux
Tacoma WIN
Tekken 7 PS4
The Banner Saga 2 XB1,PS4,VITA,WIN,OSX,Linux,iOS,Android
The Climb WIN
The Last Guardian PS4
The Legend of Zelda Wii U WiiU
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD WiiU
The Long Dark WIN
The Tomorrow Children PS4
Treasurenauts 3DS
The Walking Dead: Michonne XB1,PS4,WIN,OSX,iOS,Android
The Witness PS4
This War of Mine: The Little Ones XB1,PS4
Thumper PS4,WIN
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands XB1,PS4,WIN
Tom Clancy's The Division XB1,PS4,WIN
Tooth & Tail WIN,OSX,Linux
Total War: Warhammer WIN,OSX,Linux
Trackmania Turbo XB1,PS4,WIN
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End PS4
Unravel XB1,PS4,WIN
Vector PS4
Way To The Woods WIN
We Happy Few XB1,WIN,OSX,Linux
What Remains of Edith Finch PS4
WiLD PS4
XCOM 2 WIN,OSX,Linux
Yakuza 6 PS4
Yooka XB1,PS4,WiiU,WIN,OSX,Linux
